Another possibility can be found on About.com in the section Cooking for Two.
NO-BAKE COOKIES RECIPES:
Treat Your Family to Great No-Bake Cookies Recipes
Home-Corned Beef
“You may think I’m crazy for suggesting you corn your own beef. Not that it’s hard, but it does take a week of letting it sit in the fridge. Nevertheless, it really makes a lot of sense when cooking for two. The typical store-bought corned beef is 3 to 4 pounds and will provide four to six meals for two, whereas if you follow this recipe using flank steak instead of brisket, you’ll have less leftovers. And home-corned beef is awesomely good. Far better than the stuff at the store,” writes Kevin D. Weeks, former About.com guide.
1 1/2 quarts water
3/4 cup kosher salt
5 tablespoons sugar
1 large clove garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons pickling spice
1/2 teaspoon sodium nitrate salt, optional*
1 1/2 pounds flank steak
To make brine, combine water, salt, sugar, garlic, pickling spice and sodium nitrate salt, if using, in large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve.
Remove brine from heat. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 4 hours.
Tie flank steak into roll, place in bowl and cover with brine. Weight down with plate to keep submerged.
Refrigerate for 5 days. Remove from brine and rinse.
Prepare the corned beef as you would any corned beef, but because it’s a smaller piece of meat, reduce cooking time by about 1/3. Be sure to slice the beef across the grain — and be ready for a real treat. Yields 2 servings.
*Note: “Sodium nitrate is not something most grocery stores have — I get it by mail-order. It will keep the meat pink (otherwise the beef turns gray), but it isn’t essential in this case because the Kosher salt, sugar, spices and refrigeration provide enough preservative,” says Weeks.
